Processing system with interspersed processors with multi-layer interconnection

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of a multi-processor array are disclosed that may include a plurality of processors and configurable communication elements coupled together in a interspersed arrangement. Each configurable communication element may include a local memory and a plurality of routing engines. The local memory may be coupled to a subset of the plurality of processors. Each routing engine may be configured to receive one or more messages from a plurality of sources, assign each received message to a given destination of a plurality of destinations dependent upon configuration information, and forward each message to assigned destination. The plurality of destinations may include the local memory, and routing engines included in a subset of the plurality of configurable communication elements.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/219,095 entitled “PROCESSING SYSTEM WITHINTERSPERSED PROCESSORS WITH MULTI-LAYER INTERCONNECT,” which was filedon Jul. 25, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/851,683, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,430,422 which was filed on Mar.27, 2013, and which claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/728,959, filed Nov. 21, 2012.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

This invention relates to computer systems and digital signal processors(DSP), and more particularly, to multi-processor systems.

Description of the Related Art

The need for parallel computation arises from the need to performsoftware tasks with increased speed. Parallel computation may acceleratethe processing of multiple complex signals in applications such astelecommunications, remote sensing, radar, sonar, video, cinema, andmedical imaging, and the like. Parallel computation also may providegreater computational throughput and may overcome certain limitations ofthe serial computation approach. The capability of computational systemsmay be compared by metrics of performance, usually for a set ofspecified test algorithms. The main performance metric of interest hasbeen calculations per second. For battery-powered or thermallyconstrained equipment, however, the metric of calculations per seconddivided by the energy consumed may be preferred.

A parallel computer or signal processor, considered in the abstract, maybe composed of multiple processors, multiple memories, and one or moreinterconnecting communication networks. These components have beencombined in many different topologies, described in the literature onparallel-processor computing, also known as multiprocessing. All ofthese components have input to output latency due to internal delaysthat are related to electrical charge and discharge of conductor traces(wires) and transmission line effects, one of which is that no signalmay travel faster than the speed of light. Consequently, smallercomponents generally exhibit lower latency than physically larger ones,and systems with fewer components will exhibit lower average latencythan systems with more computational components. Although morecomponents in the system may increase average latency, there aretechniques of arranging computations to take advantage of low-latencycommunication between neighboring elements, such as pipeline andsystolic processing.

In recent years advances in integrated circuit manufacturing have madeit possible to fabricate increasingly miniaturized components ofparallel computers. With miniaturization the components operate at lowerpower consumption, higher speed, and lower latency. Consequentlyhundreds of processing elements (PEs) and supporting memories (SM) alongwith a high bandwidth interconnection network (IN) may be fabricated ona single multi-processor IC chip. From such multiprocessor chips a widevariety of parallel computer systems can be built—ranging from smallsystems using part of a chip to multichip systems that include highspeed and high capacity memory chips.

Increasingly, digital electronic systems, such as computers, digitalsignal processors (DSP), and systems embedded in enclosing equipment,utilize one or more multi-processor arrays (MPAs). An MPA may be looselydefined as a plurality of processing elements (PEs), supporting memory(SM), and a high bandwidth interconnection network (IN). As used herein,the term “processing element” refers to a processor or CPU (centralprocessing unit), microprocessor, or a processor core. The word array inMPA is used in its broadest sense to mean a plurality of computationalunits (each containing processing and memory resources) interconnectedby a network with connections available in one, two, three, or moredimensions, including circular dimensions (loops or rings). Note that ahigher dimensioned MPA can be mapped onto fabrication media with fewerdimensions. For example, an MPA with the shape of a four dimensional(4D) hypercube can be mapped onto a 3D stack of silicon integratedcircuit (IC) chips, or onto a single 2D chip, or even a 1D line ofcomputational units. Also low dimensional MPAs can be mapped to higherdimensional media. For example, a 1D line of computation units can belaid out in a serpentine shape onto the 2D plane of an IC chip, orcoiled into a 3D stack of chips. An MPA may contain multiple types ofcomputational units and interspersed arrangements of processors andmemory. Also included in the broad sense of an MPA is a hierarchy ornested arrangement of MPAs, especially an MPA composed of interconnectedIC chips where the IC chips contain one or more MPAs which may also havedeeper hierarchal structure.

In general, the memory for computers and digital signal processors(DSPs) is organized in a hierarchy with fast memory at the top andslower but higher capacity memory at each step down the hierarchy. In anMPA, supporting memories at the top of the hierarchy are located nearbyeach PE. Each supporting memory may be specialized to hold onlyinstructions or only data. Supporting memory for a particular PE may beprivate to that PE or shared with other PEs.

Further down the memory hierarchy there may be a larger shared memorytypically composed of semiconductor synchronous dynamic random accessmemory (SDRAM) with a bit capacity many times larger than that of thesupporting memory adjacent to each PE. Further down the memory hierarchyare flash memory, magnetic disks, and optical disks.

As described above, a multiprocessor array (MPA) may include an array ofprocessing elements (PEs), supporting memories (SMs), and a primaryinterconnection network (PIN or simply IN) that supports high bandwidthdata communication among the PEs and/or memories. Various embodiments ofMPAs are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, described below. Generally, a PEhas registers to buffer input data and output data, an instructionprocessing unit (IPU), and means to perform arithmetic and logicfunctions on the data, plus a number of switches and ports tocommunicate with other parts of a system. The IPU fetches instructionsfrom memory, decodes them, and sets appropriate control signals to movedata in and out of the PE and to perform arithmetic and logic functionson the data. PEs suitable for large MPAs are generally more energyefficient than general purpose processors (GPP), simply because of thelarge number of PEs per IC chip that contains a large MPA.

As used herein, the term MPA covers both relatively homogeneous arraysof processors, as well as heterogeneous collections of general purpose,and specialized processors that are integrated on so-called “platformIC” chips. Platform IC chips may contain from a few to many processors,typically interconnected with shared memory and perhaps an on-chipnetwork. There may or may not be a difference between a MPA and a“platform IC” chip. However, a “platform IC” chip may be marketed toaddress specific technical requirements in a specific vertical market.

An interconnection network (IN) may be either fully-connected orswitched. In a fully-connected network, all input ports are hardwired toall output ports. However, the number of wires in fully-connectednetwork increases as N²/2 where N is the number of ports, and thus afully-connected network quickly becomes impractical for even mediumsized systems.

A switched network is composed of links and switching nodes. The linksmay comprise wiring, transmission lines, waveguides (including opticalwaveguides), or wireless receiver-transmitter pairs. Switching nodes maybe as simple as a connection to a bus during a time window, or ascomplex as a crossbar with many ports and buffer queues. A single-stagenetwork is one where all the input ports and output ports reside on onelarge switching node. A multi-stage network is one in which a data-movetraverses a first switching node, a first link, a second switching node,and possibly more link-node pairs to get to an output port. For example,the traditional wireline telephone system is a multistage network.

Interconnection networks for parallel computers vary widely in size,bandwidth, and method of control. If the network provides a data-path orcircuit from input to output and leaves it alone until requested to tearit down, then it may be said to be “circuit-switched.” If the networkprovides a path only long enough to deliver a packet of data from inputto output, then it may be said to be “packet switched.” Control methodsvary from completely deterministic (which may be achieved by programmingevery step synchronous to a master clock) to completely reactionary(which may be achieved by responding asynchronously to data-moverequests at the port inputs).

For a single stage network the request/grant protocol is a common way tocontrol the switches. A request signal is presented to an input port andcompared to request signals from all other input ports in a contentiondetection circuit. If there is no contention the IN responds with agrant signal. The port sends an address and the IN sets switches toconnect input with output. When contention is detected then anarbitration circuit (or “arbiter”) will decide which one of therequesting ports gets a grant signal. Ports without a grant signal willhave to wait. Ports that did not succeed in one cycle may try again insubsequent cycles. Various priority/rotation schemes are used in thearbiter to ensure that every port gets at least some service.

For a multi-stage network a particular protocol called “wormholerouting” may be used. Wormhole routing is based on the idea that amessage can be formed into a series or string of words with a header fornavigation, a body to carry the payload data, and a tail to close downthe path. The message “worms” its way through a network as follows.Presume a network laid out as a Cartesian grid; and that a switchingnode and a memory is located at each junction of the grid. The headermay contain a string of simple steering directions (such asgo-straight-ahead, turn-left, turn-right, or connect-to-local memory),which indicate where the worm should go at each node it encounters inthe network. These steering directions are so simple that a node candecode them and set switches very rapidly with little circuitry. Thepath, or “hole,” set up by the header allows the passage of the payloaddata, the “body,” until a codeword “tail” is encountered which causesthe node to close the hole after it. Closing the path may free up linksand nodes for other paths to be created by the same wormhole routingprotocol.

The bandwidth of an IN may be defined as the number of successful datamoves that occur per unit time, averaged over long intervals. Thebandwidth of a switched IN is difficult to estimate in any analytic waybecause it depends on many factors in the details of the IN and in thecharacteristics of data-move requests put to it. When the request rateis low the chances for conflict for resources is low and almost 100% ofthe requests are successful. Measurements and simulations show that, asthe rate of data-move requests increases, the fraction of data-movesthat succeed decreases from 100%. Eventually the number of successfuldata-moves per second will saturate or peak and the maximum is taken asthe IN's bandwidth.

An MPA may be programmed with software to perform specific functions foran application. There are two main types of software—applicationsoftware, and development tools. Application software is the sourcetext, intermediate forms, and a final binary image that is loaded intoMPA memory for execution by PEs in the MPA. Development tools aresoftware programs to design and test application software for a targetedhardware, such as language compilers, linkers, concurrent taskdefinition aids, communication pathway layout aids, physical designautomation, simulators, and debuggers. Development tool software may ormay not run on (be executable by) the target hardware of the applicationsoftware.

SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Various embodiments of a multi-processor array are disclosed. Broadlyspeaking, an apparatus and a method are contemplated in which aplurality of processors and configurable communication elements arecoupled together in an interspersed arrangement. Each configurablecommunication element may include a local memory and a plurality ofrouting engines. The local memory may be coupled to a subset of theplurality of processors. Each routing engine may be configured toreceive one or more messages from a plurality of sources, assign eachreceived message to a given destination of a plurality of destinationsdependent upon configuration information, and forward each message toassigned destination. The plurality of destinations may include thelocal memory, and routing engines included in a subset of the pluralityof configurable communication elements.

In one embodiment, the configuration information may be included in atleast one word of the one or more data words.

In a further embodiment, each routing engine may be further configuredto decode the configuration information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a processingsystem, referred to herein as a multi-processor array (MPA).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a MPAconnection scheme.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a data memoryrouter (DMR).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a DMR.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a DMR.

FIG. 4B is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a portion of aDMR.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram illustrating an example of port arrangementof a DMR.

FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating another example port arrangementof a DMR.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating connections between DMRs and a PEin a portion of a multi-processor array.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating example local routes within aDMR.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating example global routes within aDMR.

FIG. 8A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a DMR.

FIG. 9 is a table illustrating priorities used to control a crossbarswitch within a DMR.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the operation of one embodiment ofglobal and local routing within a multi-processor array.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a direct memory access (DMA)engine.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method for operating a memorybuffer.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating another method of operating a memorybuffer.

FIG. 14 is a chart illustrating various pointer configurations.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a Pointer Compare andStall unit.

FIG. 16 is block diagram illustration the emulation of a processingengine read FIFO.

FIG. 17 illustrates operation of one embodiment of routing logic on aheader word.

FIG. 18 depicts a block diagram illustrating an example pathway througha portion of a MPA.

FIG. 19 depicts a block diagram illustrating an example pathway througha portion of a MPA that crosses a secured area.

FIG. 20 depicts a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a portionof a MPA with disabling of communication pathways.

FIG. 21 depicts a block diagram illustrating an example of data checkingprocessing.

FIG. 22 depicts a block diagram illustrating a distributed congestionanalyzer.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to limit the disclosure to theparticular form illustrated, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thespirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes onlyand are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description. Asused throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissivesense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatorysense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,”and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.

Various units, circuits, or other components may be described as“configured to” perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configuredto” is a broad recitation of structure generally meaning “havingcircuitry that” performs the task or tasks during operation. As such,the unit/circuit/component can be configured to perform the task evenwhen the unit/circuit/component is not currently on. In general, thecircuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” mayinclude hardware circuits. Similarly, various units/circuits/componentsmay be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in thedescription. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including thephrase “configured to.” Reciting a unit/circuit/component that isconfigured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph six interpretation for thatunit/circuit/component. More generally, the recitation of any element isexpressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph sixinterpretation for that element unless the language “means for” or “stepfor” is specifically recited.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Incorporation by Reference

U.S. Pat. No. 7,415,594 titled “Processing System With InterspersedStall Propagating Processors And Communication Elements” whose inventorsare Michael B. Doerr, William H. Hallidy, David A. Gibson, and Craig M.Chase is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as thoughfully and completely set forth herein.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/274,138, titled “DisablingCommunication in a Multiprocessor System”, filed Oct. 14, 2011, whoseinventors are Michael B. Doerr, Carl S. Dobbs, Michael B. Solka, MichaelR Trocino, and David A. Gibson is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety as though fully and completely set forth herein.

Terms

Hardware Configuration Program—a program consisting of source text thatcan be compiled into a binary image that can be used to program orconfigure hardware, such as an integrated circuit, for example.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), grid computing system, or other device or combinationsof devices. In general, the term “computer system” can be broadlydefined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having atleast one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An example MPA architecture is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and it is anexample of HyperX™ architecture disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,415,594. Inthe embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, MPA 10 includes a plurality ofprocessing elements (PEs) and a plurality of supporting memory (SM) andan interconnection network (IN). The IN is composed of switch nodes andlinks. Switch nodes, also referred to as routers, may be used with thelinks to form communication pathways between PEs and between PEs and MPAI/O ports. However, at each PE any information communicated may bebuffered in SM. In the FIG. 1, SM is combined with the communicationpath routers in the circular elements called data-memory routers (DMRs).As used herein, a PE may also be referred to as a PE node, and a DMR mayalso be referred to as a DMR node. A DMR is also referred to herein as a“configurable communication element”.

The links between DMRs shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 form a rectilinear mesh;however, many other connection schemes are possible and contemplated. Inthe MPA connection scheme illustrated in FIG. 2, each PE is connected tofour neighbor DMRs, while each DMR is connected to four neighbor PEs aswell as four neighbor DMRs. Other connection schemes are also envisionedto support higher dimensionality INs, such as the use of six DMR-to-DMRlinks per DMR to support a three dimensional rectilinear mesh, or eightlinks per DMR to support the four diagonal directions in addition to thenorth, east, south, and west directions. Links need not be limited tophysically nearest neighbors.

The combination of an MPA and application software may be called aparallel processing system (PPS), although the use of this name is notintended to limit the scope of the invention in any way. For example, anMPA may be programmed to buffer and analyze raw video data from acamera, then perform video data compression on the buffer contents fortransmission of the compressed data out onto a radio link. Thiscombination of application software and MPA may be referred to as aparallel video signal processor, for example.

MPA 20 with chip I/O cells may be used in any of various systems andapplications where general purpose microprocessors, DSPs, FPGAs, orASICs are currently used. For example, the processing systemsillustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 may be used in any of various types ofcomputer systems, digital signal processors (DSP) or other devices thatrequire computation.

HyperX Hardware Fabric

In one embodiment of the HyperX™ architecture, a multi-processor arraymay be composed of a unit-cell-based hardware fabric (mesh), whereineach cell is referred to as a HyperSlice. The hardware fabric may beformed by arranging the unit-cells on a grid and interconnectingadjacent cells. Each HyperSlice may include one or more data memory androuters (DMRs) and one or more processing elements (PEs).

In U.S. Pat. No. 7,415,594, a DMR may be referred to as a dynamicallyconfigurable communication (DCC) element, and a PE may be referred to asa dynamically configurable processing (DCP) element. The DMR may providesupporting memory for its neighboring PEs, and routers and links for theinterconnection network (IN). Dynamically configurable in this contextmeans those hardware resources (PE, DMR links, and DMR memory) may bere-allocated while application software is running. This is achieved bydividing the application software into a hierarchy of smaller tasks andcommunication messages. These tasks and messages are assigned toresources and executed concurrently (or serially if required). As tasksand messages are completed they may be re-executed or be replaced byother tasks and messages to form a new configuration of the applicationsoftware. The capability to change configuration “on the fly” supportsthe flexibility to make more efficient use of finite resources, and tobetter adapt to changing external demands, amongst others.

The HyperX hardware fabric has a primary IN (PIN) that operatesindependently and transparently to the processing elements, and mayprovide on-demand bandwidth through an ensemble of real-timeprogrammable and adaptable communication pathways (which may be referredto as routes or paths) between HyperSlices supporting arbitrarycommunication network topologies. Coordinated groups of HyperSlices maybe formed and reformed “on-the-fly” under software control. This abilityto dynamically alter the amount of hardware used to evaluate a functionallows for the optimal application of hardware resources to relieveprocessing bottlenecks. At the edge of the hardware fabric, links mayconnect to circuits specialized for types of memory that are furtherdown the memory hierarchy, or for I/O at the edge of an integratedcircuit (IC) chip.

The interconnected DMRs of the HyperX hardware fabric may providenearest-neighbor, regional, and global communication across the chip andfrom chip to chip. Each of these communication modes may physically usethe DMR resources to send data/messages differently depending onlocality of data and software algorithm requirements. A “Quick Port”facility may be provided to support low latency transfer of one or morewords of data from a processor to any network destination. For blocktransfers, Direct Memory Access (DMA) engines within the DMR may beavailable to manage the movement of data across the memory and routingfabric. For nearest-neighbor communication between PEs, the use ofshared memory and registers may be the most efficient method of datamovement. For regional and global data movement, using the routingfabric (the PIN) may be the most efficient method. Communicationpathways (or routes) can either be dynamic or static. Dynamic routes maybe set up for data transfer and torn down upon the completion of thetransfer to free up PIN resources for other routes and data transfers.Static routes may remain in place throughout the program execution andare primarily used for high priority and critical communications. Thephysical location of communication pathways and the timing of datatransfers across them may be under software program control. Multiplecommunication pathways may exist to support simultaneous data transferbetween any senders and receivers.

Processing Elements (PE)

The architecture of the DMR may allow different interchangeable PEs tobe used in a multi-processor fabric to optimize the system for specificapplications. A HyperX™ multiprocessor system may comprise either aheterogeneous or homogeneous array of PEs. A PE may be a conventionalprocessor, or alternatively a PE may not conform to the conventionaldefinition of a processor. A PE may simply be a collection of logicgates serving as a hard-wired processor for certain logic functionswhere programmability is traded off for higher performance, smallerarea, and/or lower power.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, PEs in an MPA, such as a HyperX™ MPA, forexample, may be supplied with parallel connections to multiple memoriesby interspersing DMRs between the PEs. Such an arrangement may reducethe time and energy required for a given PE to access memory in a DMRrelative to a segregated (i.e., non-interspersed) arrangement, and maybe referred to herein as a PE and SM interspersed arrangement.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the ratio of PEs to DMRs is 1:1. Differentratios of PEs to DMRs may be possible in various other embodiments.

A HyperX™ processor architecture may include inherentmulti-dimensionality, but may be implemented physically in a planarrealization. The processor architecture may have high energy-efficientcharacteristics and may also be fundamentally scalable (to large arrays)and reliable—representing both low-power and dependable notions. Aspectsthat enable the processor architecture to achieve unprecedentedperformance include the streamlined processors, memory-network, andflexible IO. The processing elements (PEs) may be full-fledged DSP/GPPsand based on a memory to memory (cacheless) architecture sustained by avariable width instruction word instruction set architecture that maydynamically expand the execution pipeline to maintain throughput whilesimultaneously maximizing use of hardware resources.

Setup of Communication Pathways

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a HyperX™ system, including anetwork of processing elements (PEs) and Data Memory Routers (DMRs). ThePEs are shown as rectangular blocks and the DMRs are shown as circles.The routing paths between DMRs are shown as dotted lines. Solidtriangles show off-mesh communication and solid lines show active datacommunication between DMRs. A computational task is shown by itsnumerical identifier and is placed on the PE that is executing it. Adata variable being used for communication is shown by its name and isplaced on the DMR that contains it. In the illustrated embodiment, thetop left PE has been assigned a task with task ID 62, and maycommunicate with other PEs or memory via the respective DMRs adjacent tothe PE, designated by communication path variables t, w, and u. As alsoshown, in this embodiment, an active communication channel connects a PEdesignated 71 (e.g., another task ID) to an off-mesh communication pathor port via an adjacent DMR labeled “x.”

Data Memory Router

A block diagram of an embodiment of DMR hardware structure isillustrated in FIG. 3. In the illustrated embodiment, a central datamemory (DM) is surrounded by an octagonal ring representing a router. Itis noted that the octagonal shapes shown are merely symbolic, and thatactual shapes may be different, e.g., may be rectangular. Surroundingthe DMR are a number of bi-directional arrows representing data paths toother DMRs and PEs. These bidirectional data paths may be implementedwith actual bidirectional transceivers at each end, or as a pair ofunidirectional paths directed oppositely.

Unidirectional arrows between the router and the data memory in FIG. 3represent unidirectional data paths between memory and router. A smallsquare near theses arrows represents a DMA engine, i.e., a DMA reader(DMAR) to support readout from DM, and/or a DMA writer (DMAW) to supportwriting data to DM. A DMAR engine generates address signals for thememory, typically to increment across a buffer, reading data to send outa link to another DMR. Similarly, a DMAW engine generates addresssignals for the memory, typically to increment across a buffer, writingdata that it receives from a link. Each DMA engine is much smaller thana PE and uses less power, so they are attractive to use for read andwrite of blocks of memory. DMA engines may be configured by PE writes toassociated configuration registers in the DM memory space. Writing to aparticular address triggers a DMA to start incrementing. When a DMAfinishes incrementing through a block of addresses, it stops—unlessconfigured to continue looping, either indefinitely or for a predefinednumber of loops.

To support high-bandwidth ports in an MPA, such as MPA 20 as illustratedin FIG. 2, the connections or links between ports (PE-to-DMR, orDMR-to-DMR) may be short (i.e., limited to neighbors) and composed ofmany parallel electrically-conductive traces or “wires” or “lines”. Insome embodiments a link may be composed of only a few parallel traces,one trace, or a waveguide.

The PE-to-DMR connections may separate traces for memory addresses fromtraces for data. Traces for data may be connected to transceivers tosupport bidirectional data transfer or separated into one set of tracesto bring write data to memory and another set of traces to bring readdata from memory. The DMR-to-DMR connections may not necessarily haveaddress lines but may have lines to signify special words in the datatransferred, such as control words for message header or messagetermination.

All DMR connections may have additional lines for flow control, Forexample, a line may signal upstream (from destination to source) thatfurther progress of data words is blocked either because there is someother communication path in the way or the destination cannot acceptmore data. In this document this upstream line may be named “BLK”,“stall”, “rtr_busyout” or “rtr_busyin” to name a few. Another line maysignal downstream (from source to destination) that valid data is ready.In this document this downstream line may be named “IDL”, “ready”,“rtr_rdyout”, or “rtr_rdyin”, to name a few. Both the upstream anddownstream signaling may be used to indicate the state of transmittersand receivers connected to the ends of a link between DMRs, either local(adjacent) DMRs or global (non-adjacent) DMRs. In some MPA embodiments,communication between nodes may be under programmer control.

In FIG. 4, communication controller 430 may direct crossbar 450 to routedata from one or more of DMR input ports 404 to one or more of DMRoutput ports 405, and may thereby relay data along a path through a MPA.DMR 400 may provide additional communications paths for data. In theillustrated embodiment, multi-port SRAM 425 may receive data at itswrite ports from either DMR input ports 401 or output registers 455 viaa plurality of muxes or multiplexers. The multiplexers may allowcommunication controller 430 to access multi-port SRAM 425 during timeswhen multi-port SRAM 425 might otherwise be idle. Router controller 430may be programmed to select data for output from Memory Switch, any ofthe other three DMR In-ports 404 or a Quick Port

Communication Pathways in the Switched Routing Fabric

In some MPA embodiments, longer distance communications (i.e.,communications beyond DMRs and DMRs which are adjacent) may be supportedby pathways that may be essentially logical channels. Each pathway maytransport data in only one direction; if two-way communication isrequired, then a second pathway may be established in the oppositedirection. In general, a MPA embodiment may have multiple connectionlinks between pairs of DMRs formed by space multiplexing or timemultiplexing a plurality of physical connections. Pathways may beestablished over such connection links. However, once a pathway isestablished, it may not change the connection links it uses or the DMRsto which it couples during its existence. Therefore, each pathway may beuniquely defined as an ordered sequence of DMRs and connection links,for example as a first or source DMR, a first connection link, a secondDMR, a second connection link, a third DMR, a third connection link, andso forth to a last or destination DMR. In one embodiment, the set of allthe pathways in a MPA may be uniquely defined by the state of all therouters.

To support the dynamic configuration of a MPA, pathways may be createdquickly and destroyed quickly. In some embodiments, pathway creation anddestruction may be initiated by either a given PE or a given DMR. Forexample, a given DMR may be configured to perform a DMA transfer toanother DMR without PE intervention, and thus may be configured tocreate and destroy a pathway. Two methods that may accomplish dynamicpathway creation and destruction include global programming and wormholerouting. Pathway creation with global programming is described next,followed by a description of the mode and flow control features that maybe common to many MPA pathways. A description of the wormhole routingmethod follows the mode and flow control description.

Pathway creation or setup using the global programming method mayrequire that every pathway in the MPA be defined by software control,and may require that each such pathway be configured before the pathwayis used for data transfer. This may be done either manually by aprogrammer or automatically, for example by a routing compiler orauxiliary software or by selecting a library function where the functioncode already includes pathway setup. If an ensemble of pathways is to beused simultaneously in the MPA, then it may be up to the programmer toensure that they do not use more communication link resources than areavailable in the hardware. Alternatively, software tools may be used toaid the design of link resource usage.

To create a single pathway with global programming, several instructionsmay be loaded into the communication controllers, such as communicationcontroller 430 of FIG. 4, within the DMRs along the pathway. Theinstructions may load the appropriate crossbar configuration register451 bit-groups associated with each link in the path. In someembodiments, the instructions may do this immediately or in a sequence,while in other embodiments they may await a trigger signal of some sort.In various embodiments the hardware may or may not prevent pathways frombeing interrupted once established. Therefore, it may be theresponsibility of the programmer or routing software to ensure only onepathway is assigned to any given link at a time. Once the Router Controlstate registers 451 in the DMRs all along the pathway are set, thecommunication pathway may be complete and ready for data. A pathway maybe destroyed when it is no longer required by altering the relatedbit-group in the crossbar configuration registers of every DMR includedin the pathway. Alternatively, an existing pathway may be left intactindefinitely, and the Router Control states along a pathway may simplybe overwritten by new pathways as needed after the existing pathway isno longer required.

Wormhole Routing

To support pathway setup by wormhole routing, some MPA embodiments mayprovide some additional circuits. These may include, for each DMR-typeport, an additional control line indicating control/data status anddenoted C/D, which may be included in every connection link between DMRsand coupled to routing logic 435 in each DMR. The maximum number ofwires in the connection link may nominally correspond to the sum of thenumber of bits per data word, plus one wire each for C/D, IDL, and BLK,the latter two for flow control, defined above. However, in some MPAembodiments these signals may be multiplexed in a number of differentways to reduce total wire count.

As data words are received at one DMR from another DMR, the C/D bit mayused by the receiving DMR to distinguish header, body, and tail words ofa worm. If the C/D bit is de-asserted, it may indicate that the receivedword is a body word. A body word may correspond to a data word plus thecontrol bit, which may be passed along the pathway unchanged. If the C/Dbit is asserted, it may indicate that the received word is a controlword. A control word may allow the data portion of the word to contain arouting code for interpretation by routing logic 435.

One important feature of the routing code may be an indication ofwhether the control word is a header or a tail; thus, an H/T bitindicating header/tail status of a control word may be provided. In oneembodiment, the H/T bit may be adjacent to the C/D bit, but in otherembodiments it may be assigned to other bit positions or may be aspecific multibit code. If the control word is a tail word, then it maybe propagated along the pathway and may sequentially free DMR outputports for use by some other pathway.

If a control word is a header word it may be latched within inputregister 454 of the receiving DMR and decoded by combinatorial logic inrouting logic 435. Routing logic 435 may examine the appropriate bits ofthe header word as well as the port from which the header came, and mayissue a request of crossbar 450 for an output port as shown in Table 1.The several bits examined by routing logic 435 for the purpose ofrequesting an output port may be referred to as a navigation unit, orNUNIT. For a DMR embodiment that includes four DMR-type output ports perDMR, a NUNIT may use a two-bit code to specify the four directionoptions, as shown in Table 1. In other embodiments that include the sameor different numbers of DMR-type ports, other NUNIT codes may be used. Acode using two bits per NUNIT is described below. If the output port isnot blocked by an already established pathway then routing logic 435 mayevaluate the NUNIT and allow the worm to proceed. For example, if aheader word arrived from SRAM (a type of DM) with a NUNIT code of 10,routing logic 435 may request the East output port from crossbar 450 forthe header word and subsequent words of this worm.

TABLE 1 Output port as a function of direction code and input port.Input ports Direction (code) North East South West SRAM Straight through(11) S W N E N Left turn (10) E S W N E Right turn (01) W N E S S Null(00) SRAM SRAM SRAM SRAM W

FIG. 17 illustrates operation of one embodiment of routing logic on aheader word. FIG. 17 depicts a header word as it progresses throughmultiple DMR nodes on a pathway from a source node to a destinationnode. Case (a) may illustrate a header word in its initial stateoriginating in a source DMR. In this state, the header word includes aC/D bit, an H/T bit, and a plurality of header NUNIT fields numbered HN0through HN4, with HN0 occupying the least significant bits of the headerword.

At each DMR including the source and destination DMRs, the header wordmay be passed on to the output of the crossbar with modification asfollows. The header word may be right shifted by one NUNIT and filledwith zeroes from the left. The C/D and H/T bits may then be restored totheir original positions. Cases (b) through (e) of FIG. 10 mayillustrate the header modification that occurs after the header has beenprocessed by one through four DMRs, respectively. As it passes througheach DMR the lead header word may fill with more zeroes until the nullcode is in the rightmost NUNIT, as shown in case (e). If the null codeis the rightmost NUNIT when the header word is not from the same DMR(controller or neighbor DMR), and the next worm word is not a controlword, then the header word may be at the destination DMR for that worm.

The check for arrival at the destination DMR may require multipleclocks. First the lead header word may be moved into one of inputregisters 454 and tested by the Router Control logic 435 for the nullcode in the rightmost NUNIT. If the null code is found, then in the nextclock cycle the next word of the worm may overwrite the lead header wordand its C/D and H/T bits may be tested. If the next word is anotherheader word then it may become the new lead header word, and itsrightmost NUNIT may be used to select the output port for the next DMR.There may be many header words per worm in order to route across largearrays. If the next word is a body word rather than a header word, theworm may be at its destination DMR. In this case the body word may bewritten to a preset SRAM location in the DMR. The arrival of a body wordat a location may be detected by the DMA logic of communicationcontroller 430, or by a DMR, either of which may service the arrival ofsubsequent body words. Information regarding how to service the worm mayeither be preloaded at the destination node or included in the wormright after the header.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating an example pathway through aportion of a MPA. FIG. 18 depicts eight routers denoted “Router A”through “Router H.” Each depicted router may be exemplary of router ofFIG. 4B. Although the additional logic is not shown for simplicity, eachdepicted crossbar may be included in a respective DMR such as, e.g., DMR400 as illustrated in FIG. 4, and each such DMR may be coupled to otherDMRs within a MPA, such as MPA 20 as illustrated in FIG. 2, for example.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 18, each of routers A-H includesfour input ports denoted N, S, E, and W on the left edge of the routeras well as four output ports denoted N, S, E, and W on the right edge ofthe router. Each route's input ports may be coupled to DMR input ports404 of the respective DMR, and each router's output ports may be coupledto DMR output ports 405 of the respective DMR. Additionally, each ofrouters A-H includes an input connection and an output connection to amemory, such as multi-port SRAM 425 of FIG. 4, which connection isdenoted M on the left and right edges of the router, respectively.

In the illustrated embodiment, each router A-H is coupled to a pluralityof neighboring routers via each respective DMR such that each outputport N, S, E, W of each router is coupled to a respective input port S,N, W, E of each of the plurality of neighboring routers. Thus, in theillustrated embodiment, each router may be coupled to receive inputsfrom and send outputs to four neighboring routers. It is noted that inalternative embodiments, different number of routers, each including adifferent number of input ports, output ports, and memory connections,may be employed.

FIG. 18 illustrates a pathway from a source DMR including router A to adestination DMR including router H, which pathway traverses DMRsincluding routers B, F, and G. Referring collectively to FIG. 17 andFIG. 18, a 2-bit NUNIT code defined according to Table 1 may be used toimplement the illustrated pathway as follows. The pathway originates inthe SRAM coupled to router A via input memory connection M and exitsrouter A via output port E. According to Table 1, the NUNIT for router Ashould be 10. Output E of router A is coupled to input W of router B,and the illustrated pathway exits router B via output port S. Accordingto Table 1, the NUNIT for router B should be 01. Output S of router B iscoupled to input N of router F, and the illustrated pathway exits routerF via output port E. According to Table 1, the NUNIT for router F shouldbe 10. Output E of router F is coupled to input W of router G, and theillustrated pathway exits router G via output port E. According to Table1, the NUNIT for router G should be 11. Finally, output E of router G iscoupled to input W of router H, and the illustrated pathway ends in theSRAM coupled to router H via output memory connection M. According toTable 1, the NUNIT for crossbar H should be 00.

Thus, a header control-word implementing a wormhole routing in theformat of FIG. 17 for the path illustrated in FIG. 18 may include anasserted C/D bit indicating a control word, an asserted H/T bitindicating a header word, and the values 00, 11, 10, 01, and 10corresponding to fields HN4 through HN0, respectively. It is noted thatthe illustrated pathway is merely one of many possible pathways throughone MPA embodiment. In other embodiments, different numbers of routersand ports may be employed, and different pathways and routing methodsare possible and contemplated.

Since each NUNIT may be consumed by a specific DMR along a pathway, oneor more bits may be added to each NUNIT to request specific behavior atindividual DMRs. For example, in one embodiment, one added bit per NUNITmay be used to specify that a given DMR shall operate in a multi-layermode or not. In such an embodiment, a wormhole-routed path may usedifferent modes at different DMRs along the way depending on theprogramming of the header.

In another embodiment, a PE may send a header word directly to thecrossbar inputs of a neighboring DMR, such as DMR 400 as illustrated inFIG. 4, for example. A PE may do so by specifying a particular Registeraddress to a neighboring DMR via DMR address ports, and sending theheader word(s) to the output Router of that DMR via same Registeraddress. Routing Control logic, such as, e.g., routing control logic 435as depicted in FIG. 4, may be configured to then send the worm on itsway to its destination without using the Memory Switch or Memory. Thistechnique may provide a more efficient short message passing capabilitybetween PEs.

Collision Handling

A pathway being set up by wormhole routing may come upon a DMR with oneor more other pathways either already routed or in the process of beingrouted through a given DMR. A resource conflict may occur when one ormore inbound header words requests the same crossbar output port at thesame time (a collision) or when the output port is already occupied by apathway (a blockage). Routing Control logic may include logic configuredto arbitrate which pathway receives access to the contested output portin case of a collision. Routing Control logic may detect the collisionand grant only one worm access to the contested output port. Variouspriority/rotation schemes (e.g., a round-robin scheme) may be used toshape the traffic distribution and ensure that no particular input portis always refused access to a requested output port.

When a pathway being initially set up by wormhole routing is blocked, itmay be advantageous to stop the forward progress of the blocked wormwithout destroying it. In this case, the flow control mechanismdescribed above may be employed. The word “worm” is used here torepresent an ordered sequence, or string, of flow units (referred to as“flits” in the literature) that may be words, bytes, or other bitgroups. In some embodiments the DMR flow control protocol may operate asfollows. When a worm encounters a blockage, the lead flit of the wormmay be latched in an input register of the blocking DMR, and the BLKsignal may be driven backward to the next upstream DMR in the pathway tolatch another flit of the worm in input registers of the next upstreamDMR. This process may be repeated back to the DMR containing the tailword of the worm, or to the source DMR if the tail word has not yet beensent by the source. The data in the worm may be captured in the inputregisters and output registers of DMRs in the pathway that areconfigured to operate in a synchronous data transfer mode. As describedabove, two words may be stored per DMR, resulting in a “scrunched” or“telescoped” condition of the stalled worm. The worm may stay frozenindefinitely until the blocking conditions go away, following which, itsforward motion may be automatically restarted by the propagation of thede-assertion of the BLK signal. The above description of DMR flowcontrol protocols assumes one flit to be stored in a link input portregister and one flit to be stored in a link output port register;however, additional registers may be added to store additional flits perport under blockage conditions, and this may provide additionalelasticity to the length of the worm. In some embodiments the source endof a particular pathway may stop sending flits temporarily and de-assertthe “ready” signal, and the flow control signaling may progressivelystop the forward motion of flits until the destination end receives thede-assertion of the “ready” signal, whereupon the worm will be frozen inplace until the source starts sending again. In an alternative protocolembodiment the temporary stop of source data sending and de-assertion ofthe “ready” signal may create a bubble in the pathway composed of flitswith a de-asserted “ready” bit. The bubble may progressively grow untileither the source resumes sending data or the bubble reaches thedestination, whereupon the destination receiver continues to read flitsbut discards all flits which contain de-asserted ready bit. When thesource resumes sending data the bubble collapses against the destinationreceiver; and the destination receiver may resume receiving data uponthe appearance of an asserted “ready” bit. In some embodiments multipleprotocols may be supported by hardware and selected by software.

Several example applications illustrating MPA functionality arediscussed below. It should be noted that such examples are not intendedto limit the structure, function, or scope of a MPA or its components,but are intended only to facilitate understanding of the foregoingdescription. It is contemplated that numerous variations of theseexamples may be employed, and that there may be numerous alternativeapplications to the ones discussed below.

Multi-Layer Interconnect

Multi-processor systems such as those described above, may requirehardware (e.g., DMRs and PEs) and software to work in a cooperativemanner in order to accomplish a particular computing task. To realizethe cooperation between various processors of the system, a network maybe used to transmit data and instructions between individual processors.In some embodiments, multiple networks may be employed for communicationbetween processors.

A network within a multi-processor system that has high data throughputcapacity may be designated as a primary interconnect network (PIN),which may be composed of links (i.e., one or more wires that run betweennodes) and nodes. Nodes may have ports that may be employed to connectto local processing engines, local memory units, or to I/O ports at theboundary of the multi-processor array. Other networks, which may beconstructed in a similar fashion, with lower data throughput capacity,may be designated as secondary interconnection networks (SINs), such as,e.g., the serial network described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/274,138. Such secondary networks may be used for control, testing,debug, security, and any other suitable application.

Nodes may include a switch, which may be capable of making independentconnections between one link or port and another link or port, and maycorrespond to a DMR. In some embodiments, nodes located near the edge ofan integrated circuit, may have specialized ports for off-chipcommunication with other IC chips of the same or different types, suchas, random access memories (RAMs) or general purpose processors (GPPs),for example.

In some embodiments, a PIN topology may include a 2-dimensional meshconsisting of a 2-dimensional array of nodes. Each node may have anorth, south, east, and west link to another node. A 3-dimensional meshmay be achieved with the addition of adding “up” and “down” links toeach node of a 2-dimensional mesh allowing the connection of one or more2-dimensional meshes. 3-dimensional meshes may be connected in a similarfashion to form what is commonly known as a “hypercube mesh.” Although2-dimensional and 3-dimensional meshes have been described, in otherembodiments, any suitable number of dimensions may be employed to form amulti-dimensional mesh. A dimension need not be infinite in potentialextent; instead it may loop back on itself, forming a mesh cylinder or amesh torus. And in some embodiments a group of PE may be interconnectedwith a PIN which is randomly formed and then mapped so as to giveaddresses to destinations

Wiring technology may influence the relative density of links in eachdimension. In some embodiments, such as circuit boards or VLSI ICs,available wiring density is high in the circuit plane, but limited inthe third dimension. A 3-dimensional mesh may be accommodated by usingless links in the third dimension, or by projecting all of the linksinto the circuit plane. Nodes and link routing may then be adjusted tocreate an area-efficient layout.

Such a layered approach to forming networks may allow for high dimensionnetworks without the need for exotic fabrication technology. Higherdimension interconnection networks may provide more communicationpathways between computation resources, i.e., processing engines andmemory units. In some embodiments, links may be routed across memoryunits, allowing additional PIN resources with minimal increase tosilicon area of a multi-processor system. Higher dimension networks mayalso be implemented using advanced packaging techniques includingthrough-silicon vias (TSV) and various types of silicon interposertechnologies.

To realize the layered networking approach, a node may include adata-path switch, flow-control signaling, and a router control mechanism(RCM). The data-path switch may be configured to establish connections,each connection enabling a data path between an allowed subset of linksand ports. For example, a connection may be established between a linkand a different link, between a link and a port, or between a port and adifferent port. In some embodiments, the data-path switch may includeword-wide bit-parallel multiplexer whose outputs may be coupled to theoutgoing portion of a link or port, and their inputs may be coupled tothe incoming portion of a link or port. In some embodiments,synchronously clocked registers may be used at a link or port interfaceto buffer incoming or outgoing data and adjust its timing. In variousembodiments, the data path switch may be implemented with a single stageof multiplexing, while in other embodiments, the data path switch may beimplemented with multiple stages of multiplexing.

The multi-layer IN switching node of one embodiment of the invention, inits most general form, includes layer switching and directionalswitching for multiple communication pathways that may be sourced at thenode, traversing the node, or terminating at the node. The nodeinterprets the inbound data arriving at its ports according to aconfigurable protocol to determine what to do with it. The smallest unitof data that can be accepted by the ports that are linked to other nodesin the IN is also the smallest unit subject to data flow control on thelinks, and in the literature it is referred to as a flow unit or “flit.”

The flow control signaling may regulate the flow of data across eachconnection so that data is not lost by a sending more data than areceiver can absorb, or by a receiver duplicating data that a sendercould not send fast enough. Data sent into a channel at a source portmay appear at its destination port after some period of latency. In somecases, the latency period may correspond to one clock period per linktraversed. To prevent data loss, the rate of data flow in the channelmay be controlled by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Insome embodiments, hardware flow control signaling may use a binaryelectrical signal from sender to receiver indicating that data is ready,and another binary electrical signal from receiver to sender requestingthat the sender should wait (stall) before sending more data. These flowcontrol signals may follow a data path in parallel, including transitthrough data multiplexers.

The route control mechanism may be configured to process connectionrequests for resources (links or ports). In some embodiments, an RCM maysearch across multiple inputs (generally from different directions) foran incoming signal. If the signal contains a code requesting aparticular resource, the RCM may check that the requested resources areavailable, i.e., the resources are not reserved by a pre-existingconnection. If requested resources are available, an RCM may grant therequest, send a signal to data path multiplexers to make the connection,and establish flow control signaling across the connection. Conversely,if requested resources are not available, the RCM may not grant therequest and may signal the requesting input to stall the sender untilthe incompatible pre-existing conditions are removed. Alternatively, theRCM may time-share the blocking connection and allow the requestedconnection on a part-time basis (commonly referred to as “cut-through”).While stalling or time-sharing any particular subset of the inputs, theRCM may search the remaining set of inputs for an incoming signal.

An RCM may include an arbitration mechanism to deal with simultaneousrequests for available resources. If two or more connection requests forthe same resource (link or port) arrive at the same time, an RCM mayarbitrate them and select a winner. In some embodiments, the arbitrationscheme may be a priority scheme, a round-robin scheme, or any othersuitable arbitration method. In other embodiments, the arbitrationscheme may be configurable to be a priority scheme, round-robin, or anyother suitable arbitration method.

When a termination command for a particular connection is received, anRCM may relay the termination command to any output link, and releasethe resources associated with the connection. Released resources may beimmediately available for making other connections. In cases where acut-through had been established, the RCM may restore the resources tothe pre-existing connection that was cut. It is noted that in variousembodiments, an RCM may perform other functions or duties.

Routing through a PIN may be performed in a hierarchical fashion, withdifferent techniques employed at different levels of the hierarchy. TheRCM within a node is the lowest level, the setup and tear down ofcommunication pathways (channels) is the intermediate level, and thegroup selection of pathways to minimize mutual interference is the toplevel. At the node level, routing is basic and fast, and typically isimplemented in hardware. At higher levels of the routing hierarchy, therouting is more complicated and may be accomplished in software.

At the node level, routing is accomplished with the routing controlmechanism as described in more detail above. In some embodiments, theRCM may be implemented as a state machine. Routing request may arrivefrom a local PE via a port into the node. Routing requests may alsoarrive from a link, encoded in a header of a message. As described abovein more detail, routing requests encoded in a message form the basis ofa channel configuration method commonly referred to as “wormholerouting.” In such a routing method, a message is composed at a sourcenode and pre-fixed with a header that describes where a channel is togo. In various embodiments, different header styles may be employed.

An RCM may also monitor the traffic in connected channels and use thisinformation to locally adjust connections into more optimalarrangements. For example, if two paths are time shared on a link andone of the paths is relatively busy compared to the other connection,the RCM may be permitted to allocate a larger fraction of time to thepath with higher traffic load. In another example, if a switch node hasadditional links to bypass local traffic, then through traffic may beshifted to these links, freeing up local resources for sourcing orterminating a path.

When a path is no longer needed, a “tail” code may be sent into thesource port of the path. In some embodiments, the tail code may sentautomatically by the hardware of the system. Software may control thesending of the tail code in other embodiments. As the tail codepropagates along the established path, individual RCMs clear theconnections and release its respective routing resources. The tail codeinsertion can be automatic via hardware or sent under software control.In some embodiments, extra data bits may be included in the links todistinguish header and tail words from the message body. A word paritybit may also be carried in any link to assist in data integrity.

Pathways (also referred to as channels) may be static or dynamic. Astatic path may be set up and used for the duration of a givenapplication, while a dynamic path may be created for message transferand then torn down, freeing links and nodes for other pathways to beformed. In some embodiments, a dynamic path may be torn down andreplaced at a later time by another instance of itself.

As described above, a worm header may contain routing information suchas source address, intermediate addresses, destination address, and moderequests. Of this information, the destination address is usuallyrequired and it may be coded in many different ways. In one embodiment,an address may be encoded as a sequence of turns while, in otherembodiments, an address may be encoded as Cartersian X-Y pairs, or anyother suitable encoding method. In some embodiments, the routinginformation may take the form of a sequence of navigation units(commonly referred to as “nunits”). The nunits may be encoded to requestconnection resources (links or ports) and modes of each node and RCMthat is encountered while setting up a communication pathway.

Minimal (2-bit) nunit codes may request to connect “straight-ahead,”“turn left,” “turn right,” or “stop.” As a header message passes througha node, the sequence of nunits may be shortened from the front as theconnection instructions are executed. When a “stop” instruction isencountered, the RCM may direct the data path multiplexers to presentthe remainder of the worm message to a register for access by a PE orDMA. Multiple such registers may be supported in a DMR so as to supportmultiple channels simultaneously. The address of such a register may mapto the corresponding arrival direction at the destination node, enablinga particular PE to wait for the arrival of a message from a particulardirection.

Although 2-bit navigation units are described above, in otherembodiments, any suitable number of bits may be used in navigation toallow for INs with higher dimension mesh connections and also foradditional router modes. For example, an additional bit may be encodedin each nunit. An additional nunit bit may allow for connectioninstructions to switch layers, “go up,” or “go down,” and may becompatible with a two or more layer PIN. An additional nunit bit mightbe used to modify router modes, such as fixed or optimizing, whereoptimizing might apply to time-share ration, express routing usingnon-nearest neighbor links, or other optimizations.

Application software on a multi-processor array (MPA), may require anensemble of many communication pathways between and among PE and chipI/O interfaces. Since two or more pathways may block each other, and theprobability of blocking becomes a certainty when too many paths arecrowded onto finite resources, the routing of an ensemble of pathwaysreduces to finding at least one feasible (non-interfering) ensemble ofroutes. As the density of paths increases, a feasible ensemble maybecome more difficult to find. A measure of path density is thepath-to-link fill ratio (i.e., the total length of paths divided by thetotal length of links). As the fill ratio approaches 100% it may becomeimpossible to complete all of the path routes.

Routing of an ensemble of communication pathways (paths) may beaccomplished with a software tool referred to as a “router” which may beincluded as part of the development suite of software. A programmer(perhaps employing a task placement tool) may provide the router toolwith a list of paths that need to be routed, also referred to as anetlist. Initially, a path may only be specified by the location of itssource and destination nodes. For each path to be routed, the router mayselect a minimum-distance sequence of links from the source to thedestination. When after the first pass, there are paths blocking otherpaths, the ensemble may be re-routed using blockage reductiontechniques. The re-routing with blockage reduction may be repeated untilno blockages are detected.

A method to make the routing process easier may involve restructuringthe application software algorithm to reduce the number of pathsrequired. In some cases, path density is high when multiple paths areseeking the same node or attempting to exit from a node. To reducecrowding in such cases, an algorithm may be distributed across multiplenodes, effectively distributing message traffic across more links. Inhardware re-design, the DMR link capacity may be increased to allow moreconnections per node. Another method to make the routing process easiermay involve increasing the number of available connection resources(links and switches) per DMR.

With the objective of adding connection resources to a DMR, theadditional resources may be organized in layers added to the IN. Eachadded layer may contain a set of node to node connections, and eachrouter may include a set of data path multiplexers, flow controlsignaling, and a router control mechanism. To permit any communicationpathway to cross from one layer to another, additional data pathswitches and their control may be needed.

FIG. 5A shows an example embodiment of a single layer directional switchfor a DMR node 550 in a single layer IN. Links between DMR nodes connectto input and output ports on each DMR. These ports in turn connect to adirectional switch (router) in the DMR. The Router input components 552,554, 556, and 558 are further detailed in the lower half of FIG.4B—items 482, and 486. The Router output components 551, 553, 555, and557 are further detailed in the upper half of FIG. 4B—items 481, 485,487, and Router Control Logic 489. Note in FIG. 4B that the Input portdata register 486 buffers input flits and connects to three Routeroutput components (for turn left, go straight, or turn right) and (forterminating pathways) to the Memory Switch 488, and the Quick Ports (notshown) to be available directly to be connected PEs. In FIG. 5A, thelines drawn between Router input components and Router output componentsrepresent multi-bit busses that may be selected by Router Control Logic489 and data-path multiplexers 485 in the output components.

FIG. 5B, illustrates an embodiment of a two-layer directional switch fora DMR node 500 in a two-layer IN. In the illustrated embodiment, node500 includes an added global (layer B) composed of output ports 501,505, 509, and 513, and the B side of the input switches. In FIG. 5B thelines drawn between B-side of input switches and Goports representconnections of multi-bit busses that may be selected by data-pathmultiplexers at the Goports.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5B the pre-existing local (layerA) directional switch may be the same as shown in FIGS. 4B and 5A; butto keep FIG. 5B uncluttered, only the output ports 502, 506, 510, and514, and inputs ports 503, 508, 512, and 515 of Layer A are shown.

As depicted in FIG. 5B, Node 500 further includes input switches 504,507, 511, and 516 that are coupled to the local (layer A) inputs ports503, 508, 512, and 515, respectively. The purpose of the input switchesis to allow an inbound communication pathway to switch from the local(layer A) to the global (layer B) or from the global (layer B) to thelocal (layer A). In some embodiments, crossbar switches 504, 507, 511,and 516 may be composed of 2 input and 2 output (2×2) crossbar switchescapable of only two states, one being straight-through connections andthe other being crossed connections.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5B, the input switch control logic(not shown) may be separated from the router control logic 489. Takentogether the input switch control logic and the router control logic maybe considered the router control mechanism.

Each crossbar switch receives data from an A port and a B port andselectively passes data either through on the same layers or crossedfrom layer to layer. Local (A layer) output ports 502, 506, 510, and 514may accept data from DMA or PE and transmit data to their respective Alinks. In some embodiments, the local (A layer) output ports may alsoconnect with input ports 503, 508, 512, and 515 to allow for thecreation of through routes.

Global output ports 501, 505, 509, and 513 may accept data from B sideof crossbar switches 504, 507, 511, and 516 and transmit data on theirrespective B links In various embodiments, the global output ports maynot be used in conjunction with local routes.

It is noted that the port configuration of the node illustrated in FIG.5B is merely an example. In other embodiments, different numbers, andconfigurations, and interconnections of ports may be possible.

An embodiment of a portion of a multi-processor array is illustrated inFIG. 6. The illustrated embodiment includes DMR 601 coupled to DMR 602through local link 611 and global link 610. DMR 601 is further coupledto PE 603, and DMR 602 is also further coupled to DMR 602.

In DMR 601, global link 610 and local link 611 are coupled to crossbarswitch 604, which is further coupled to global port 605 and local port606. In DMR 602, global link 610 and local link 611 are coupled tocrossbar switch 607, which is further coupled to global port 608 andlocal port 609.

During operation, data transmitted from local port 606 of DMR 601 may becoupled to local link 611. In our example the crossbars are only on theinput port side. Alternatively, data transmitted from global port 605may be coupled to local link 611 or to global link 610 by crossbarswitch 604. Again, data from global port 605 can only go out on globallink 610. In a similar fashion, data received by DMR 602 via global link610 may be routed to either local port 608 or global port 609 throughcrossbar switch 607. It is noted that crossbar switch 604 only has twoactive states of straight or crossed. For example, when global link 610is connected to local port 608 then local link 611 can only be connectedto global port 609, and when global link 610 is connected to global port609 then local link 611 can only be connected to local port 608.

It is noted that embodiment of a node-to-node link in an IN of amulti-processor array illustrated in FIG. 6 is merely an example. Inother embodiments, different numbers and types of connections betweenDMRs are possible and contemplated, including bidirectional and timeshared connections.

A block diagram depicting possible internal routes within a DMR isillustrated in FIG. 7. In the illustrated embodiment, DMR 700 includeslocal ports 701, 703, 705, and 707, and global ports 702, 704, 706, and708. DMR 700 further includes local memory 709. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 7, local port 701 is coupled to local ports 703,705, and 707. Local port 701 is further coupled to local memory 708. Insome embodiments, the aforementioned coupling may be set up by an RCM asdescribed in more detail above, and the coupling may allowthrough-routes in DMR 700. For example, data transmitted from aneighboring DMR to local port 701 may be passed through the outputportion of any of local ports 703, 705, and 707. Additionally, datareceived through local port 701 may be stored in local memory 709. Thenumber of ports and their arrangement and internal routing illustratedin FIG. 7 is merely an example. In various embodiments, different numberof ports and different configurations of internal routing may beemployed.

A block diagram depicting possible global routes within a DMR isillustrated in FIG. 8. In the illustrated embodiment, DMR 800 includeslocal ports 801, 803, 805, and 807, and global ports 802, 804, 806, and808.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, global port 802 is coupled toglobal ports 804, 806, and 808. In some embodiments, the aforementionedcoupling may be setup by an RCM as described in more detail above, andthe coupling may allow through-routes in DMR 802. For example, datatransmitted from a neighboring DMR to global port 802 may be passedthrough the output portion of any of global ports 804, 806, and 808.

The arrangement of ports illustrated in FIG. 8 is merely an example. Inother embodiments, different numbers of ports and different arrangementsof ports are possible and contemplated.

In the embodiments described above and illustrated in FIGS. 4-8, theinput switch control logic may have configurable priorities. A tabledepicting example input switch control priorities is illustrated in FIG.9. For incoming pathway routes that are programmed to remain on local(layer A), input router port A may have a higher priority than inputrouter port B. In the case of incoming global (layer B) routes, inputrouter port B may have a higher priority than input router port A.However, when input router port A and input router port B request thesame resource, dependent upon the type of request, the higher priorityport may control the input switch state and thereby the access to theresource, and the lower priority port may follow if the requestedresource is available, or it may stall if the resource is unavailable.Such priorities are depicted in the table illustrated in FIG. 9.

The routing table of FIG. 9 corresponds to a semi-automatic mode of theexample routing protocol that allows the layer switch control logichardware to make layer switching selections during pathway setup basedon the current state of the node and the directional switching requestspresented to it. This mode is advantageous to processing flits thatcontain minimal sized nunits that only specify direction requests, andin some cases it may avoid blockages from other pathways.

The non-automatic mode of the example routing protocol may not allow thecontrol logic hardware any freedom to make selections of data pathswitches (layers or directions), and instead require the selection to beencoded in the current nunit of the arriving header flit. This mode mayrequire larger nunits than the semi-automatic mode, and these may beaccommodated with proportionately more header flits to set up a wormholerouted communication pathway. This mode is advantageous to the precisecontrol of pathway location by a software development tool suite, whichhas a much wider view of the ensemble of paths needed by an applicationsoftware, and is better equipped to avoid blockages and in-feasibleensembles of pathways than would be obtained with path selection blindto other pathways.

The use of configurable control logic for the layer and directionswitches supports multi-mode routing protocols. In the example HyperXDMRs the current configuration is held by a register in the DMR that isR/W accessible to application software. Each DMR may be configuredindependently of the other DMR, so it is possible that a header flit toset up a worm-routed pathway will have nunits of mixed sizes, dependingon the expected mode setting of the DMRs that it is intended toencounter.

Stall Retry

It is noted the crossbar switch may implement all cases of inboundpathway setup, except the case when both ports (A and B) request a local(layer A) access. When both ports request a local access, the crossbarswitch may stall input router port B. In some embodiments, the crossbarswitch may allow access, but downstream fabric priority logic may stallthe request. In order to minimize the impact on timing, the crossbarswitch may be designed to switch to the proper state based on minimumlogic that uses only the current header flit requests and crossbarstate. No additional downstream stalling is considered. This may giverise to cases where a potentially bad decision may be made based on thelimited look at the state.

The cases can all be described by a single set of conditions which are:

The input crossbar is not currently “locked” on an existing activetransaction.

A global request is made by an arriving first header flit on either theA and/or B port.

Based on the priority scheme, the first header flit may be placed on theB′ (global) bus and sent to the Goport logic.

This Goport logic is either already in use by another pathway (from adifferent direction) or is receiving a second header flit request in thesame cycle from a direction with a higher priority.

Under these conditions, the first header flit will be stalled downstreamfrom the input crossbar and so it will have to wait for the Goport tobecome available.

In such cases, it is possible that the Outport (layerA) associated withthe requested route direction is available for a global route but thelogic would be too complex to execute in a single cycle to detect that.In such cases, a “stall and retry” tactic may be employed. When theaforementioned conditions occur, the request may be stalled; and theduring the same complete clock cycle all the necessary logic may beevaluated to determine if a different decision by the layer switch inputcrossbar will provide a clear path. If that is the case, then therelevant information may be registered at the next rising clock edge anda retry may be evaluated in conjunction with any new requests. When nonew requests (on the same or other ports) conflict with the retry, thenthe retry may be granted and the route may be completed on the alternatepath.

The aforementioned method provides full use of the global route fabricas if all of the conditions were considered in the first request cyclewithout over-taxing a cycle's logic in such a way as to cause a criticalspeed path. The route set-up is still deterministic, based on thecurrent conditions in the fabric, but a route may take additional cyclesto traverse a DMR when a retry is necessary.

The priorities depicted in the table illustrated in FIG. 9 are merelyexamples. In other embodiments, different priorities are possible andcontemplated. It is further noted that in various embodiments, thecrossbar may be controlled by hardware or software (such as, e.g.,nunit/flit programming and control registers), or a combination thereof.

An example of multi-layer routing is illustrated in FIG. 10. In theillustrated embodiment, PE 1006 creates a worm header to route from aneast port of DMR 1001 to a west port of DMR 1003. The route originatesfrom router port A or DMR 1001 and then travels to DMR 1002. Uponreaching DMR 1002, the layer-switch input crossbar in DMR 1002 decidesto send the worm onward using router port B (a global port) onto DMR1003. Upon reaching DMR 1003, the layer switch in DMR 1003 switches theroute back to the local (layer A) input port, allowing the wormhole pathto terminate there.

Also illustrated in FIG. 10 is a worm route created by PE 1007 to gofrom a north port of DMR 1005 to a west port of DMR 1004. This routeoriginates from router port A (north) of DMR 1005. As described above inreference to the priority table illustrated in FIG. 9, the routeswitches to router port B (east) of DMR 1001. The route switches torouter port A (west) of DMR 1002 due to the fixed state of the inputcrossbar switch (e.g., the crossbar switch is already set in a directionby the route established by PE 1006 as described above). For similarreasons, the route switches back to the global routing level (level B)at DMR 1003. The route exits DMR 1003 and enters DMR 1004 via routerport B and then is switched to the local input route port where thewormhole routing terminates.

It is noted that routes depicted in FIG. 10 are merely examples. Inother embodiments, different numbers of routes and different routespaths are possible.

Security Bypass Routing

Areas of an MPA chip may need to be secured from other areas of an MPAchip. For various reasons, one area of an MPA may contain sensitive datarelated to device control, IP licensing, user authorization, etc., orrunning an algorithm critical to proper operation. Meanwhile anotherarea of the MPA may be executing software that has not been validated assecure. Non-validated software may be present for a variety of reasons(it may be new and with plenty of bugs, or the source code isunavailable for security validation, or it may be so large and complexthat it is un-economic to validate). Non-validated software may containviruses or spyware.

A wormhole-routed communication path may be designed to be sourced inone area, to probe another area, and to copy-in or copy-out data orinstructions. To prevent this sort of probing, the links and ports of aDMR may be designed such that they may be configurably disabled, seeU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/274,138, referenced above. In oneembodiment the DMR links and ports involved are shown in FIG. 8A whereincircular features are points where message traffic can be disabled. Alsoshown in FIG. 8A is a configuration register in the SBS interface to theserial bus that may be designed so that individual bits may be writtento disable each of the DMR ports/links. The serial bus may be alow-bandwidth secondary interconnection network (SIN) on the chip thatmay be used for configuration and debug purposes.

FIG. 23 shows an MPA with an area delineated by a freehand boundary thatmay be secured by disabling communication pathways at the boundary.Communication paths within the secured area are not affected by thedisabled communications at the boundary. However, the bounded area islarge enough that it gets in the way of communications between PE oneither side of the secured area. Thus there is a need for a way to routeunsecured messages across the secure area without violating its security(referred to herein as “Secure Bypass Routing”).

Secure Bypass Routing may be achieved by designing a DMR to be able toconfigurably limit worm-messages from connecting to the local memory andPE ports, but to allow bypass over secured areas. A DMR may be designedsuch that memory and PE ports connect directly to only the local layer-Adata paths, and not to other layer data paths, except indirectly throughthe layer switches (input crossbars). In this DMR embodiment theworm-message layer switching is limited to the input crossbars, and away to prevent a worm-message from switching layers in a DMR is to lockthe crossbars into the straight-through state.

For a two-layer IN the crossbars have only two states (through orcrossed). When these crossbars are locked in the through state, then anyinbound worm-message is constrained to exit the crossbar on the samelayer. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5A, worm-messages inboundon the local layer-A may exit on the layer-A OUTPORT or they mayterminate at the INPORT. Worm-messages inbound on the global layer-B mayonly exit on the layer-B GOPORT.

For three and more layer INs the crossbars may have many states and mayinclude the connection of any input layer to the local layer-A. If these“connect to local INPORT” states are the ones locked off, then inboundworm messages on upper layers may switch layers but be excluded fromINPORT, thus keeping INPORT secure. In some situations it may bedesirable to allow some of the upper layer inbound communicationpathways to reach the DMR INPORTs, and this can be accommodated withmore programming bits in the DMR configuration register.

An unsecured communication pathway over a secure region is illustratedin FIG. 23 where the dotted line depict a route that passes on theglobal (layer B) links over a secured area; and it does not originate orterminate within the secured area.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 24, the sequence of events tocreate a bypass over a secure region is described in the followingexample. It is noted that in the example, the term “config-reg” is anabbreviation for configuration register:

Secure PE(0,0) and DMR(1,1) with Route-over.

-   -   Set up PE (0,0)—load its IM then secure from further R/W        -   Set SBS(0,0) config-reg to reset PE(0,0) if needed        -   Write all IM of PE(0,0) through the SB and optionally            validate        -   Set SBS(0,0) config-reg bits to disable the IM bus and lock            the SBS config-reg        -   Optionally read SBS config-reg to confirm it is locked    -   Set up DMR(1,1)        -   Set SBS(1,1) config-reg bit to reset DMR(1,1) if needed        -   Optionally initialize DMR(1,1) and validate        -   Set SBS(1,1) config-reg bits to disable North and East ports            and the IM bus and lock the config-reg        -   Optionally confirm SBS config-reg and IM bus are locked.        -   Disable all A ports and set input crossbar locker bit.        -   Disable PE buses NE, NW, SE; and lock configuration.    -   DMR (1,1) is secure because only PE(0,0) has read or write        access to its DM or registers and PE(0,0) is secured; and        messages arriving at the DMR ports or SBS are ignored.    -   After securing PE(0,0) and DMR(1,1) there are many possible        bypass routes that will not interact with them. For example,        PE(1,0) using a Quick port in DMR(2,0) (not shown) located north        of DMR(1,0), may write header flits to the DMR(2,0) South Quick        Port that arrive at DMR(1,1) on the A layer and then are        switched to the B′ layer. The bypass route may continue on the        link to DMR(1,1) on the B layer. Inside the DMR(1,1) the bypass        route may go North, South, or East according to the nunit        information in the header flits. Suppose a nunit selects South,        then the bypass route would continue on to DMR(0,1) where it may        continue on the B layer or, now that it is outside the secure        area, it may switch to the A layer and continue to route or        terminate.

The control logic and the data-path switching to implement a protocol inthe example HyperX DMR nodes are implemented in two stages—first thelayer-switching crossbar, and then the directional-switching router.Alternatively in other implementations the directional switching couldcome first and the layer switching second. These two stages may beintegrated together into a unified switch in other implementations.Alternatively the protocol and switching may be implemented with morethan two stages.

The example DMR router implementation has a layer-switch (inputcrossbar) that is a two-layer version of a multi-layer switch, while theexample directional switch is a three-direction version of amulti-directional switch. This invention does not limit either of theseswitch components to the number of layers and directions of this exampleDMR implementation. The concept may easily be extended to many layersand many directions with minor modifications to the exampleimplementation. These extended forms support additional IN connectiondimensionality.

The wormhole routing methods described here and used in the exampleHyperX architecture provide for an infinite address space by usingcontinuation header flits. For short distance communications a singleheader flit may be all that is required. When the DMR encounters a firstheader flit with only one non-termination nunit, then the DMR mayperform the nunit specified direction selection, discard the first flit,promote the second flit to first flit and send the worm message onwardto the next DMR. Very long headers may be composed if required totraverse an MPA spread across many f MPA chips. Finite addressing ofworm message headers uses a fixed number of bits to specify the worm'sdestination address. Finite addressing does not interfere with themultilayer methods described here for low dimensional INs, but it maybecome less efficient as the IN dimensionality increases.

In order to provide automatic detour routing, the routing engine may useinformation about the route congestion both locally and more globally toallow it to detour a route around pockets of congestion. A pathway routemay be planned and programmed into header flits as usual, and then ifcongestion is encountered along the way, an unplanned detour may be madeto avoid it. The routing control mechanism of an IN node may compute adetour either alone or in conjunction with information from neighboringnodes, either local or global. A node may add nunits or header flits asrequired to achieve the detour, after which the worm-message maycontinue on its pre-planned route to its destination. If temporalknowledge is also included in the route information then the estimatedduration of congestion can also be used as part of the determination ofthe path. Overall this is a congestion avoidance adaptation on the fixedpath methods previously described.

Congestion may be determined according to the method illustrated by theblock diagram in FIG. 26. In this diagram, the square boxes representDMRs. The DMR in the center, labeled “A”, is able to make decisions oncongestion by gathering congestion information from its neighbors in thefollowing way. The surrounding DMRs (B1-B8) may provide metrics on bothlocal and global congestion information to DMR A. A single metric fromDMR B1 to DMR A tells DMR A about the level of congestion DMR B1 isobserving itself. This is the local congestion metric. DMR B1 alsoprovides a global congestion metric to DMR A by gathering informationfrom its neighboring DMRs that are not neighbors of DMR A. These havebeen marked “C” in FIG. 26. Similarly, DMR B2 provides a localcongestion metric to DMR A. It also provides a global congestion metricto DMR A by gathering information from its neighboring DMRs that are notneighbors of DMR A. These have been marked “D” in FIG. 26. This repeatsfor all of the neighbors of DMR A as indicated in FIG. 26. Note thatthis method of determining congestion can be expanded in multipledimensions and can use information from further away neighbors todetermine global congestion as required by the topology of the PIN andthe needs of the algorithm calculating the automatic detour routing.

Link Bandwidth Improvement

There are several methods of increasing the bandwidth on any linkbetween two DMR units. One way is to increase the number of trace (wire)connections per link. Another is to run the link layers in fasterprotocols such as double data rate (DDR). Yet another is to include timedivision multiplexing (TDM) of logical routes on the same physicallayer. For TDM it is important to reliably demultiplex the stream ofdata coming off the link. One way that is straightforward is to increasethe number of bits per flit that are sent down the physical link, theadded bits being a tag. The tag bits carry a code for the worm-messageto which the rest of the bits belong. A tag of n bits may encode up to2^(n) different worm-messages, each one of unlimited length. Other modesmay divide each worm message into packets and apply header flits to eachpacket. These packet header flits may contain message identifiers andother information to aid demultiplexing.

Direct Memory Access FIFO

Multi-processor arrays (MPAs) such as those described above, may be usedto process high-speed data streams with complex algorithms. Such datastreams are often continuous and arrive and depart at a constant rate.The PEs, however, are better suited to processing data in memory in ablock-at-a-time fashion; so there is a mismatch to the continuous datastreams. One solution to this problem is to allocate a portion of memoryfor use as a buffer memory, also referred to as a buffer. Typically abuffer is specified in application software that is compiled to operatethe MPA. A buffer may be allocated statically at compile time ordynamically during operation. Within any particular application softwarethere may be many buffers, used for example for the analysis andsynthesis of data streams. As previously described, the term “array” isnot meant to imply any dimensionality.

A memory buffer (referred to herein as a “buffer”) may provide anelastic quality to a data path within a multi-processor array. Forexample, a buffer may be able to absorb short-term data rate variations(provided that average input and output data rates are matched). In someapplications, it may be necessary to split a high rate data stream intomultiple low rate data streams. Alternatively, it may be necessary, inother applications to combine multiple low rate data streams into asingle high rate data stream. Such operations may require that there isno loss or duplication of data within any of the data streams.

A PE may be used to store data into the portion of a memory allocatedfor a memory buffer. The same PE or another PE may be used to retrievedata from the buffer. Such a method of data storage and retrieval,however, underutilizes the capabilities of a PE. A simpler direct memoryaccess (DMA) engine may, in some embodiments, be used to access buffersand move data, thereby freeing the PE to be used for other more complextasks, or to go idle to conserve energy.

In some embodiments, DMA engines may perform most of the work intransferring data between ports and local memory. When a PIN portcontains both an input and output part which may be simultaneouslyoperated, a separate DMA engine may be necessary for each part.

Turning to FIG. 11, a block diagram of a DMA engine is illustrated. DMAengine 1101 includes an address generator 1102, memory interface 1103,network I/O 1104, and control registers 1105. Memory interface 1103 maybe coupled to an external memory such as a SRAM, for example. In variousembodiments, network I/O 1104 may be coupled to external I/O port or anysuitable internal port of a multi-processor array.

Address generator 1102 may include a counter designed according to oneof many possible counter configurations. In some embodiments, thecounter may be configured to reset to a pre-determined value. Addressgenerator 1102 may also include circuits, such as an adder, for example,configured to combine the output the counter with additional data toform address values to be used in accessing a memory. A separate counterconfigured to store an index value may also be included in addressgenerator 1102.

Control registers 1105 may include one or more latches, flip-flops orany other suitable storage circuit configured to store controlinformation for DMA engine 1101. For example, control registers 1105 maystore information that may be used to affect the direction of datatransfer, starting address, the increment between address values(commonly referred to as a “stride”), and the like. In some embodiments,control information may be written into control registers 1105 due aninitialization or boot procedure for a multi-processor array.

Memory interface 1103 may be configured to employ one of various memoryinterface methods. In some embodiments, memory interface 1103 mayprovide a timing signal, such as a clock, for example, a mode selectionsignal, an address value, and input data values to a memory external toDMA engine 1101. The external memory may reside within or be external toa multi-processor array. In various embodiments, the external memory mayinclude dynamic random access memory (DRAM), SRAM, read-only memory(ROM), or non-volatile memory such as, e.g., FLASH.

It is noted that the embodiment of a DMA engine illustrated in FIG. 11is merely an example. In other embodiments, different functional blocksand different configurations of blocks are possible and contemplated.

Protocols may be used to coordinate data input to and output from abuffer. Such protocols may prevent data from being overwritten in abuffer, and in other embodiments, prevent the duplication of data withina buffer. Protocols may be classified by the input to output datasequence. There are two primary sequences: First in, First out (FIFO),and First in, Last out (FILO). In a FIFO, the order of the data may notbe changed, while in a FILO, the data order may be reversed.

Turning to FIG. 12, an embodiment of a method for operation a DMA engineis illustrated. Referring collectively to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, themethod begins in block 1201. An initial address and index are theninitialized (block 1202). In some embodiments, the initial address maybe loaded into a counter in address generator 1102. The initial indexvalue may also be stored in another counter included in addressgenerator 1102.

A word of data may then be read from the memory (block 1203). In someembodiments memory interface 1102 may access a memory external to DMAengine 1101 using the address value provided by address generator 1103.The data read from the external memory may be temporarily stored inmemory interface 1102. The read data word may then be written to a PINport (block 1104). The data word may, in various embodiments, betransferred from memory interface 1102 to network I/O 1104 for output toa PIN port.

The current address is then incremented (block 1205). In someembodiments, the current address may be incremented by a stride value,which may be stored in one of control registers 1105. The index value isthen decremented (block 1206). The amount by which the index value isdecremented may, in some embodiments, also be stored in controlregisters 1105. The method then depends on the decremented index value(block 1207).

When the decremented index value is greater than a pre-determinedthreshold value, a new word of data is read from memory using theincremented address value (block 1203), and the method continues asdescribed above. When the decremented index value is less than or equalto the pre-determined threshold value, the method concludes (block1208). In some embodiments, the pre-determined threshold value may bezero, although other values are possible.

It is noted that the method illustrated in FIG. 12 is merely an example.In other embodiments, different operations and different order oroperations are possible and contemplated. Additionally, the terms“increment” and “decrement” are not intended to limit the associatedoperations to addition and subtraction, since addition of a negativenumber provides the same result as a subtraction and the subtraction ofa negative number provides the same result as an addition. A similarlack of limitation on the terms “greater than” and “less than” is alsointended.

In FIG. 13, another method of operating a DMA engine is illustrated.Referring collectively to FIG. 11 and FIG. 13, the method begins inblock 1301. An initial address and index are then initialized (block1302). In some embodiments, the initial address may be loaded into acounter in address generator 1102. The initial index value may also bestored in another counter included in address generator 1102.

A word of data may then be read from a PIN port (block 1303). In someembodiments, the data word may be received by network I/O 1104 andtransferred to memory interface 1103 for temporary storage. The receiveddata word may then be written to a memory (block 1304) using the addressvalue provided by address generator 1102.

The current address is then incremented (block 1305). In someembodiments, the current address may be incremented by a stride value,which may be stored in one of control registers 1105. The index value isthen decremented (block 1306). The amount by which the index value isdecremented may, in some embodiments, also be stored in controlregisters 1105. The method then depends on the decremented index value(block 1307).

When the decremented index value is greater than a pre-determinedthreshold value, a new word of data is read from memory using theincremented address value (block 1303), and the method continues asdescribed above. When the decremented index value is less than or equalto the pre-determined threshold value, the method concludes (block1308). In some embodiments, the pre-determined threshold value may bezero, although other values are possible.

It is noted that operations of the method illustrated in FIG. 13 aredepicted as being performed in a sequential fashion. In otherembodiments, the operations may be performed in parallel or in adifferent order.

During operations of a DMA engine such as those illustrated in FIG. 12and FIG. 13, caution should be exercised to prevent the data overwriteor data duplication in a memory. In some embodiments, the DMA engine maystall, i.e., not execute a read or write operation, when either a PIN orlocal memory cannot accept data from or provide data to the DMA engine.In such cases, the DMA engine may store recently read or written datawords in registers for use at a later time. Information regarding thestall may also be propagated from the port side of the DMA engine to thememory side of the DMA engine and vice versa. For example, a busyindication from the PIN port may stall the DMA engine from making reador write requests through its memory interface.

A data stream may be longer than the size of a buffer. In such cases, itmay be necessary to coordinate the input of data (fill) process and theremoval of data (drain) process to prevent the loss or duplication ofdata. In some embodiments, two buffers (one being filled and the otherbeing drained) may be employed. This technique is commonly referred toas “double-buffering.” During operation, when the buffer being filledbecomes full, an input data stream may be switched to the buffer beingdrained. A similar switch occurs when the buffer being drained becomesempty; the output stream is then read from the buffer being filled. Theprocess of the buffers switching roles is often called a “swap ofbuffers,” and may be implemented through an exchange of pointers tobuffer memory addresses. In some embodiments, use of two buffers may becollapsed into a single buffer using a more sophisticated controller tokeep track of which address is being written to and which address isbeing read from.

A form of fixed multiplexing can be accomplished with the DMA FIFOlogic. Because the DMA engines are physically much smaller than a DMR, aDMR may contain multiple DMA write engines and multiple DMA readengines. The coupled control of multiple DMA engines working on the samebuffer allows multiple data streams to be combined into one outputstream or the reverse, a single input data stream can be split intomultiple output data streams. Also the coupled control of multiple DMAengines may include coordination with flow control logic to prevent lossor duplication of data. With a fixed interleave pattern, the design ofthe coupled control is relatively straightforward; and simplificationsof the control logic may be made if the lengths of packets in the inputstreams are all the same; however, these are not limitations of theinvention.

As described above, a controller may be employed to coordinate themultiple DMA engines accessing a single FIFO buffer memory. Thecontroller may be configured to allow multiple DMA engines to read fromthe FIFO buffer memory while another DMA engine is writing to the FIFObuffer memory. The number of DMA engines performing a read operation(DMAR) may be dependent upon the number of bi-directional PIN portsfacing memory from the nearest PIN node. Such a configuration mayprovide flexibility to support data division and re-ordering using onlyDMA engines, i.e., no PE are necessary.

To support data re-ordering and division of a data stream, support formultiple read strides may be necessary. Support for multiple writestrides may also be employed at the cost of additional hardwarecomplexity. In some embodiments, the latency of the data transit throughthe system of buffer and multiple DMA engines may be adjusted intradeoff with logic circuit complexity and power dissipation.

A DMA controller for multiple DMA engines may be configured to supportone-time and continuous DMA, single-write with multiple read, andsingle-read with multiple write. In some embodiments, FIFO buffers usedin conjunction with a DMA controller and multiple DMA engines may be“fully protected” in hardware, i.e., no additional software control isnecessary once the controller and its associated DMA engines have beenconfigured.

The controller for multiple DMA engines may be composed of logiccircuits configured for pointer comparison and stall conditiondetection, and these circuits may be constructed in a modular fashion invarious embodiments. For example, the logic circuits may be configuredto support a single FIFO buffer operation. The logic circuits may thenbe replicated any number of times necessary to support a desired numberof FIFO buffer operations. In various embodiments, the number of addressbits used for comparison may be adjusted dependent upon powerdissipation requirements.

Turning to FIG. 14, a diagram depicting possible configurations ofpointers for a single-read single-write implementation is illustrated.It is noted that although the diagram illustrated in FIG. 14 depicts thesingle-read single-write case, other implementations, such as two-readsingle-write, for example, are possible and contemplated.

In each of the cases depicted in FIG. 14, the WRAP value is used toindicate that the write pointer has wrapped back around to the beginningof the FIFO in the continuous DMA mode. When the write pointer haswrapped, the read pointers associated with the buffer, may continue tothe end of the FIFO and no further checks are required. When theaforementioned read pointers reach the end of the buffer, the WRAP valueis cleared and the FIFO is returned to normal mode. When the WRAP valueis equal to zero, the read stall condition is determined by:((RD_PRT−WR_PRT) is greater than or equal zero)

In cases where the WRAP value is 1, a similar comparison between theread and write pointers will provide a write stall value fornon-negative result. The remaining cases depicted in FIG. 14 arenon-stalling for both reads and writes.

In the examples illustrated in FIG. 14, cases 1, 2, 6, and 7 areapplicable to one-time DMA operation. When a DMA FIFO starts, the readand write pointers are organized in accordance with case 1. Writes areallowed to the FIFO, but reads are stalled. During normal operation (seecase 2), the write pointer leads the read pointer and the both reads andwrites are allowed. In some cases, the read pointer catches the writepointer (see case 7), resulting in reads being stalled. When a write tothe FIFO completes (see case 6), the write pointer may point to addressoutside of the FIFO, and reads may be allowed to continue until the endof the FIFO has been reached.

In the examples illustrated in FIG. 14, all of the cases, with theexception of case 6, are applicable to continuous DMA operation. Whenused in the continuous case, a WRAP bit may be maintained for eachread/write pointer pair within a FIFO. In some embodiments, more thanone of one type of DMA may be compared with one of the other type of DMA(e.g., 4 read, 1 write), resulting in the need for more than one wrapbit. In various embodiments, wrap bits may be employed in differentfashions dependent upon the configuration of the DMAs.

In multi-read cases, the wrap bits may be set when the single writepointer wraps, and each of the additional wrap bits may be cleared whenits respective read pointer indicates a wrap has occurred. Inmulti-write cases, a wrap bit may be set as each write pointer wraps,and all of the additional wrap bits may be cleared when the read pointerindicates a wrap.

A single FIFO buffer may include one input and more than one output. Insuch cases, it may be necessary to compare more than one pointer todetermine stall signals for DMA engines connected to the FIFO buffer. Insome embodiments, the comparison may be performed in a centralizedfashion to avoid duplication of circuitry and additional routing if thecomparison function were distributed among the DMA engines that may beconnected to a FIFO buffer. In each DMR of a multi-processor arraysystem, one or more functional blocks configured to compare pointers andgenerate stall signals may be employed. A DMA-FIFO buffer and controllermay also be implemented at chip I/O interfaces; including interfacesspecialized for external memory chips, such as SDRAM chips. In variousembodiments, a FIFO buffer may include any suitable number of input andoutput ports to connect to higher dimension meshes.

Turning to FIG. 15, an embodiment of a pointer compare and stall unit(PCSU) is illustrated. In the illustrated embodiment, PCSU 1500 includesDMA read pointer inputs 1501, DMA read control inputs 1504, DMA writepointer inputs 1502, DMA write control inputs 1503, DMA read FIFO stalloutputs 1510, and DMA write FIFO stall outputs 1511. Although thepointer inputs are depicted as containing 9-bits, and the control inputsare depicted as containing 4-bits, in other embodiments any suitable bitwidth for each type of input may be employed.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15, DMA read pointer inputs 1501are and DMA write pointer inputs 1502 are coupled to comparators 1505through 1508. In various embodiments, comparators 1505 through 1508 mayimplement any suitable comparison algorithm such as the differencebetween the read and write pointers described above. The output ofcomparators 1505 through 1508 may then be coupled to stall logic 1509.The circuits included in stall logic 1509 may combine the comparatoroutputs using any suitable logic function, such as, e.g., AND, OR, etc.,to form DMA write stall outputs 1511 and DMA read stall output 1510.

It is noted that the PCSU illustrated in FIG. 15 is merely an example.In other embodiments, different functional blocks and differentconfigurations of blocks are possible.

Under certain circumstances, it may be desirable for a PE to read andwrite memory and be tied into a FIFO structure. In some embodiments,this may be realized using an additional DMR and at least some of thefunctions of the previously described DMA FIFO controller. Turning toFIG. 16, a block diagram of an emulation of a PE read FIFO isillustrated. In the illustrated embodiment, normal route in 1605 iscoupled to DMR 1601, which is, in turn, coupled to DMR 1603 viaadditional route 1606. DMR 1603 is further coupled to PE 1604. In someembodiments, DMR 1601 may include a single-write, single-read FIFO 1602.In this FIG. 1607 is not a DMA-FIFO but is simply an INPORT (input port)on the DMR that is holding the values from the 1606 route link until PE1604 can read them. The route is stalled until the PE reads a value orthe PE is stalled until the next value is available in the port.

During operation, DMA-FIFO 1602 may send received data from normal routein 1605 to DMR 1603 via INPORT 1607. Processing element 1604 may thenperform stalling reads on INPORT 1607, resulting in a local copy of thedata stored in DMA-FIFO 1602, via DMR 1604. In some embodiments,processing element 1604 may be able to receive the data from DMA-FIFO1602 with minimal additional latency. It is noted that the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 16 is merely an example. In other embodiments,different numbers and arrangements of DMR blocks and processing elementsare possible.

It is possible to insert processing into the transfer path of the fabricinterconnection that is programmable in various ways. This processingcan exist both for the DMA FIFO mode as well as for normal transfermodes. The simple types of processing include things like bitinterleaving and de-interleaving. Other simple processing can includebyte swapping, byte packing and unpacking, field masking, arithmeticfunctions such as add and multiply, etc. More complex functions may alsobe performed. A useful function for security applications is encryptionand decryption. Other computations that might easily be adaptable intothe DMA streaming functionality are CRC, Parity, shift, extraction, andfiltering. The examples described above are for illustrative purposesonly and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description.

In many situations there is a need to scan through memory and calculatea signature that depends on all of the bits scanned. The DMA enginealready has the means to generate sequences of addresses to scan memoryand the addition of modest processing capability makes itstraightforward to calculate lengthwise parity, running sums, or runningproducts, to name a few. The output signature may be written to one ormore registers that are accessible to application software, so as to usethe results in the application.

One use is to rapidly and efficiently compare two or more data arrays totest that they are the same, the method being to calculate a signaturefor one array and calculate a signature for a second array and thencompare signatures. The signature calculation on each array may be doneby the same hardware separated in time or by different hardwareseparated in space and/or time. The same signature calculation hardwareneed not be used on both arrays, as long as the signature calculation isthe same. This allows the signature calculations to be made for example,in different DMRs or different IC chips. The comparison of signaturesfrom one or more signature calculations may be made at a centrallocation or distributed across multiple locations, either in hardware ina DMA or in software executing on PE hardware. In any case thedistributed calculation of signatures may require the communication ofsignature values to a central location or along a distribution ofcomparison locations. The DMA engine may be configured to issue amessage for wormhole routing that delivers the signature value of anarray to a destination for comparison. Signature messages may be muchmuch shorter than the data they represent and thus be more efficientlydistributed.

Tests for data array equivalence are used for example in the method oftriple modular redundancy (TMR) which takes the results from three(possibly erroneous) computations and compares them for equivalence, andif two or more results are equivalent then their result may be acceptedas correct. If the results of each computation are already small thenthe DMA signature calculation will not help, but if the results are morethan a few tens of words then the DMA signature calculation may be moreefficient than calculating signatures with a PE.

The idea of hardware support for signature calculations is not limitedto DMA engines, it may also be applied to the address and data streamsbetween a PE and its supporting memory, both data memory (DM) andinstruction memory (IM). FIG. 25 shows a possible arrangement ofsum-check units tapped into address and data busses between PE and DM.These calculate running sums to calculate signatures, but otherarithmetic and logical processing may be implemented. The output of thesum-check units may be sent to a modular redundancy “vote taker” todetermine which results to accept.

Although the system and method of the present invention has beendescribed in connection with the preferred embodiment, it is notintended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein, but on thecontrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, andequivalents, as can be reasonably included within the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a plurality ofprocessors; a plurality of configurable communication elements coupledto the plurality of processors in an interspersed arrangement; wherein aparticular configurable communication element of the plurality ofconfigurable communication elements is coupled to a first subset of theplurality of processors, and to a second subset of the plurality ofprocessors different from the first subset; and wherein the particularconfigurable communication element is configured to receive one or moremessages from a particular processor included in the first or secondsubset of the plurality of processors, and forward the one or moremessages to another configurable communication element of the pluralityof configurable communication elements using configuration information;and wherein one or more configurable communication elements of theplurality of configurable communication elements are interspersedbetween the another configurable communication element and theparticular configurable communication element.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the one or more messages includes a request for access to aparticular resource, and wherein the particular configurablecommunication element of the plurality of configurable communicationelements is further configured to arbitrate between multiple requestsfor access to the particular resource.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the particular configurable communication element is furtherconfigured to forward the one or more messages to the anotherconfigurable communication element based upon an amount of messagetraffic to the another configurable communication element.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the particular configurable communicationelement of the plurality of configurable communication elements isfurther configured to receive the configuration information via a serialbus.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the particular configurablecommunication element of the plurality of configurable communicationelements includes a register configured to store at least a portion ofthe configuration information.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theparticular configurable communication element is further configured toforward a particular message of the one or more messages to the anotherconfigurable communication element based upon header informationincluded the particular message.
 7. A method of operating amultiprocessors system, comprising: designating a first subset of aplurality of processors for receiving a first plurality of messages froma particular configurable communication element of a plurality ofconfigurable communication elements, wherein the plurality ofconfigurable communication elements is coupled to the plurality ofprocessors in an interspersed arrangement; designating a second subsetof the plurality of processors for receiving a second plurality ofmessages from the particular configurable communication element, whereinthe second subset is different than the first subset; receiving, by theparticular configurable communication element, a message from aparticular processor included in the first or second subset of theplurality of processors; and forwarding the message to anotherconfigurable communication element of the plurality of configurablecommunication elements using configuration information; and wherein oneor more configurable communication elements of the plurality ofconfigurable communication elements are interspersed between the anotherconfigurable communication element and the particular configurablecommunication element.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprisingforwarding the message to the another configurable communication elementbased upon an amount of message traffic to the another configurablecommunication element.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising,monitoring the amount of message traffic by the particular configurablecommunication element.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprisingreceiving, by the particular configurable communication element, theconfiguration information via a serial bus.
 11. The method of claim 7,storing at least a portion of the configuration information in aregister included in the particular configurable communication element.12. The method of claim 7, further comprising forwarding the message tothe another configurable communication element based upon headerinformation include in the message.
 13. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising deactivating a channel from the particular configurablecommunication element to the another configurable communication elementin response to determining the message has been transmitted.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein deactivating the channel includes detectinga particular code included in the message.
 15. A system, comprising: aplurality of processors, a plurality of memories interspersed among theplurality of processors, wherein each memory is coupled to a subset ofthe plurality of processors; and a plurality of routing engines, whereineach routing engine of the plurality of routing engines is coupled to arespective one of the plurality of memories, a first subset of aplurality of links, and a second subset of the plurality of links;wherein each link of the first subset of the plurality of links iscoupled to a respective one of a first subset of the plurality ofrouting engines; wherein each link of the second subset of the pluralityof links is coupled to a respective one of a second subset of theplurality of routing engines; wherein a particular routing engineincluded of the plurality of routing engines is coupled to first subsetof the plurality of processors, and to a second subset of the pluralityof processors different from the first subset, and wherein a particularprocessor included in the second subset of the plurality of processor isnot physically adjacent to the particular routing engine; and whereinthe particular routing engine is configured to: receive one or moremessages from a particular processor included in the first or secondsubset of the plurality of processors; and forward the one or moremessages to another routing engine of the plurality of routing enginesusing configuration information, wherein one or more routing engines ofthe plurality of routing engines are interspersed between the anotherrouting engine and the particular routing engine.
 16. The system ofclaim 15, wherein the one or more messages includes a request for accessto a particular resource, and wherein the particular routing engine ofthe plurality of routing engines is further configured to arbitratebetween multiple requests for access to the particular resource.
 17. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein particular routing engine is furtherconfigured to forward the one or more messages to the another routingengine based upon an amount of message traffic to the another routingengine.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein the particular routingengine of the plurality of routing engines is further configured toreceive the configuration information via a serial bus.
 19. The systemof claim 15, wherein the particular routing engine of the plurality ofrouting engines includes a register configured to store at least aportion of the configuration information.
 20. The system of claim 15,wherein the particular routing engine is further configured to forward aparticular message of the one or more messages to the another routingengine based upon header information included the particular message.